River of Lost Souls
River of Lost Souls Type: River First Appearance: Souls of the Departed Latest Mention: Heartless The Acheron, also known as the River of Lost Souls, is an Underworld location on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It first appears in the twelfth episode of Season 5. The Acheron is based on the river of the same name from Greek Mythology, and the river Styx from the Disney film Hercules. It also shares aspects with the rivers Lethe and Styx from Greek Mythology. Plot 'After Third Curse' In his lair, Hades plans to drop Killian into Acheron, a green river that is connected to the Worse Place. He leaves Killian dangled on a chain that gradually lowers over time into the river, but Emma frees him in time. After making a deal with Hades, in which he'll have the chance to return home, Mr. Gold flings Milah into the river, and he later lies to Emma and Hook about Hades being culpable for it. As hope begins to bloom in the Underworld, Hades attempts to snuff it out as soon as possible, by offering Gaston the opportunity to send Mr. Gold into the the Worse Place. He gives Gaston enchanted arrows, which have been dipped in water from Acheron. While Belle searches for a way to save Gaston and keep him and Mr. Gold from hurting each other, Hades presses her to let either Mr. Gold or Gaston throw the other into the river, and in return, he'll void the contract on her baby. She refuses the deal and tells Mr. Gold about it. Mr. Gold then attempts to throw Gaston into the river, but Belle forces him to stop. However, when Gaston makes one final attempt on Mr. Gold's life, Belle shoves her ex-lover into the river herself. Learning the heroes plan to bottle a kiss of true love from Auntie Em to awaken Dorothy from a Sleeping curse, Hades puts some water from Acheron in her soup, which she drinks. At once, Auntie Em melts into a puddle of water, some of which Hades collects into a jar. Hades threatens to do the same to any other resident of the Underworld who helps the heroes, and he later dumps the liquefied remains of the old woman into the river. After overpowering Emma and Robin Hood, James and Cruella prepare to send them into the river, but David, Prince James' twin brother, intervenes in time. During the twins' fight, David insists he only wants to help James move on, but James reveals his unfinished business is to kill his brother. David blocks James from knifing him, and then flings him into Acheron. Mr. Gold uses a glamour spell on a wine-skin filled with water from Acheron to resemble a heart, which he puts inside the body of his father Peter Pan, revealing the deception just before the water takes effect and sends Pan's soul to the river. When Killian and King Arthur travel by ferry across the river to retrieve the storybook, two souls emerge from the river and attack them. After warding them off with fire, Killian and Arthur discuss how souls never rose from the river or displayed any sort of intelligence in the past, and that the nature of the river seems to be changing now that Hades has left the Underworld, indicating that all souls in it can eventually free themselves. Visitors *Emma Swan *Hades *Hook *King Arthur *Mr. Gold Prisoners *Auntie Em *Gaston *Milah *Peter Pan *Prince James Trivia On Screen Notes= *The River of Lost Souls shares aspects with three rivers from Greek Mythology: Lethe, the river of unmindfulness. All those who drank from the river experienced complete forgetfulness. Styx, which some souls tried to swim across to reach the Underworld. Acheron, the river of woe, where the shades are ferried across by Charon. However, the rivers Styx and Lethe are separate from the river Acheron on Once Upon a Time.